Dash cams are already essential in many countries because of scam artists who try to create accidents so they can sue you. They’ve also proven useful for catching cars flying into buildings, or the occasional meteor, as happened in Thailand and in Russia a few years ago.

But while auto con artists aren’t as common here, recording your excursions is a reasonable precaution to take—especially if you’re driving professionally. And even if you’re not, you may unexpectedly appreciate using it to chronicle your vacation travels—or tap into your smart home, as we recently tested with an Alexa-enabled dash cam, the Garmin Speak Plus.

November 21, 2018:Our new best front/rear dash cam is The VIofo A129 Duo (available on Amazon). It’s won a place in our hearts as the first affordable dual-channel setup to offer superior 1080p day and night video from both the front and rear cameras.

The A129 Duo has other selling points: integrated GPS, and a supercapacitor that will actually keep the camera alive for a couple of seconds after poweris removed. There are a couple of exceedingly minor caveats, but overall, the A129 is a very sweet deal. Read our full review.

Best front/rear dash cam

The Viofo A129 Duo dual-camera system produces high-quality day, night, and low-light video from both its front and rear cameras, and it does so for a good price. Better still, its supercapacitor will take video for 2-3 seconds after a power failure. Aside from an overly thick cable to the rear camera, we have no complaints.

The A129 Duo is easily our favorite budget dual-camera dash cam (available on Amazon), with superior 1080p day and night video from both the front and rear cameras. It holds its own against far more expensive duos from Thinkware and Blackvue. Aside from the somewhat unwieldy rear cam cable, it’s all goodness, all the time. Read our full review.

Best budget front/rear dash cam

Even adding the $50 optional GPS mount the CDR895 is a good deal, with dual-channel versatility, great daytime video and passable nighttime video.

The CDR 895 D Drive HD is by far the cheapest dual-camera system we’re aware of (available on Amazon), even when you add $50 for the option GPS mount. Its controls and interface are top-notch, and day video from the 1080p/160-degree front camera is excellent. For all the details, read our full review of the Cobra CDR 895 D.

Best front dash cam

Everything about the 612GW. including the touchscreen and 4K UHD day video is top-notch. Everything that is, except the low-light video which is weak. With the headlights on, it's fine, but you can say that of many dash cams. A great camera for many users, a non-starter for some.

The 612GW (available on Amazon) made quite the impression with its touch display and extra-detailed 2160p video. It’s a fantastic dash cam overall, though the inferior low-light captures will be an issue for some. Read our review.

Runner-up

Garmin’s Speak Plus dash cam (available on Amazon) deserves mention because it’s the only dash cam (other than its predecessor, the Garmin Speak) that can be controlled using Amazon’s Alexa smart assistant. You can also, of course, ask Alexa to do other things around your home while you’re in the car. You’ll need to keep your smartphone handy to enjoy all the features, though. Read our full review.

Best budget front dash cam

The Vantrue OnDash N1 Pro (available on Amazon) is our new favorite low-cost dash cam. It’s compact, light, relatively inexpensive, takes good video under all conditions, and has a real battery to keep running if the 12-volt fails. Because we recommend GPS for legal and travelogue reasons, I’m going to talk about it as if the $22 optional GPS mount were part of the deal. If you’re smart, it will be. Read our full review.

What to look for in a dash cam

12-volt power: All dash cams use 12-volt power, and nearly all of them grab it from the auxiliary power outlet (also known as the cigarette lighter). One we know of, the Owl cleverly uses the OBD-II connector. Hardwiring kits are available if you want a constant 12-volt supply.

Battery power: A battery that will keep the camera recording after an accident is important if you want to be sure you record an entire incident when 12-volt power is lost. If run time is sufficient, it also allows you to record for a while with the car turned off. Supercapacitors, though they may sound like an improvement on batteries (in terms of recharge cycles and operating temperatures they are), don’t offer much recording after the fact, and increasingly—none at all.

Continued recording when power fails so that you can be sure to capture all of an incident. This requires a battery or large supercapacitor. The camera should have a setting that allows you to set how long the camera runs off 12-volt before shutting down.

A decently wide field of view: You’ll see cameras with as little as 90 degrees’ field of view, but you’ll catch more of what’s around you if you go for 120 to 140 degrees. Some cameras offer 160 to 180 degree lenses. Note that the wider the field of view, the more fish-eye distortion there is, and more processing is involved to compensate.

Day and night video recording (night quality is a big variant)

MicroSD card storage. Pricier dash cams bundle a storage card. Some come with larger cards, and some budget models come without. There are often bundles available with the card. One camera, the Owl opts for hard-wired internal storage.

GPS: This feature could be the tipping point if you use your captured video to resolve a dispute. GPS should either watermark or embed your video with geographical coordinates,. GPS will also automatically set the time in better cameras.

Parking monitoring: This simply means running the camera where you’re not in the car. We have reviewed cameras (VaVa) that have a battery large enough to monitor the car (at a reduced video frame rate) with the 12-volt turned off. But most cameras require that you hardwire to a constant 12-volt source.

Dual-channel support: This is what you’ll need if you want to run both front and rear (or interior) cameras, though it’ll involve more cabling (and cost more overall). Only a few models we’ve tested have it: The Thinkware F770 (available on Amazon), for instance, though the rear camera costs an additional $80; and the Cobra CDR 895 D Drive HD (available on Amazon), which gets you into dual-channel video for a measly $200—rear camera included.

How we test dash cams

Few people are as well situated geographically as I am to test dash cams. Within two blocks there are major four- and six-lane thoroughfares, numerous bike lanes, joggers, dog walkers, oblivious ear-budded pedestrians, and a major bus nexus serving both public and private coaches. The opportunities for near-accident are endless.

For every dash cam, I mount it in my car, judging the ease and convenience of doing so. Tip: Many dash cams rely on adhesive for mounting to your windshield. Hot conditions can make it next to impossible to remove the film that protects the adhesive. Remove the film in a cool environment, or place it in the fridge for a minute or two before installing it.

I put each dash cam through several days’ and nights’ worth of driving, recording video and judging the image quality. All the dash cams I’ve reviewed in the last couple of years take good daytime video. However, night video is often plagued by murky shadows and headlight flare. That said, quality is improving rapidly with the introduction of new sensors. Take a close look at the night shots in each review.

I try all the features: Buttons, display controls, apps. Aside from rear-view support and GPS, the most salient differences between the products are the interface controls and extra features, such as the lane departure and collision warnings that you get with some models. I try them...and I turn them off. In practice, they usually tell me I’m changing lanes, in heavy traffic, or have just been cut off. Additionally, the collision warnings generally come too late to do anything but distract you at exactly the wrong time.

The most pertinent improvements as of late are HDR support (High Dynamic Range, for greater detail and contrast) and the aforementioned better night video processing. A warmer color palette is also apparent in many newer cameras. Some cameras definitely stand out, but nearly all the dash cams I’ve seen will capture sufficient detail during any daytime metal-on-metal encounters you’re unlucky enough to experience. Again, pay attention to the night video shots—that’s the big differentiator.

What’s next in dash cams

Dash cams have plenty of room to evolve. As nice as dual-channel is, there’s talk about true 360-degree video. Check out TechHive’s review of PowerDVD 16’s 3D playback to see how compelling that can be.

As I predicted at last writing, someone finally produced a dash cam that uploads to the cloud when an incident occurs—the Owl Car Cam. Additionally, it hard-wires by default to the OBD connector for easy-install, 24-hour surveillance. It has some foibles, but read the review—it’s the wave of the future, at least for the high end.

All our dash cam reviews

See the list below for details on dash cams we’re reviewed that are currently available, and check back for reviews of new products in this ever-expanding category.

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The Viofo A129 Duo dual-camera system produces high-quality day, night, and low-light video from both its front and rear cameras, and it does so for a good price. Better still, its supercapacitor will take video for 2-3 seconds after a power failure. Aside from an overly thick cable to the rear camera, we have no complaints.

Pros

Great video, front and rear

Very affordable for a dual-camera setup

Integrated GPS

Cons

Small, easy to use, and with absolutely sterling day and night captures, this is one of, if not the best budget dash cams we've tested. It even has a real battery to capture events if the 12-volt is interrupted. Great stuff, but spend the extra $22 for the GPS mount. You'll thank us in the long run.

Pros

Small and easy to install and use

Great day and night video

Battery lets the dash cam capture video when the 12-volt dies

Cons

This dash cam's superior night vision is in a class of its own. Feature laden, its only real drawback is price--$300 alone, and over $400 with a rear camera. Some users may rue the lack of a display, but overall, the F800 is a contender for best dash cam in the universe.

Pros

Dual channels allow for the addition of a rear camera

Excellent night video, even with the headlights off

Mature feature set including many types of warnings

Cons

Expensive

Using hotspot instead of client Wi-Fi can reduce your phone's battery life

Thinkware's F770 is pricey, but the voice feedback, features, and day/night video are as good as it gets get, and it's dual-channel so you can record to the rear with the $80 add-on camera. It uses your Android/iOS device as a viewer and display, however, so if you're not phone-centric, look elsewhere.

Cons

Everything about the 612GW. including the touchscreen and 4K UHD day video is top-notch. Everything that is, except the low-light video which is weak. With the headlights on, it's fine, but you can say that of many dash cams. A great camera for many users, a non-starter for some.

Cons

This dash camera has a clever, compact, and handsome design, with lots of high-end features such as voice control and Wi-Fi connectivity. It also provides traffic light and speed trap alerts. The 180-degree wide-angle lens captures details to the side, but does suffer some fish-eye effect. Video stabilization could be better as well, but it's still a very nice camera overall.

Cons

The Z4 is a nice, basic dash cam with very good performance. It offers great daytime and adequate nighttime HDR video, good looks; and simplicity of operation. We liked the high-powered suction mount and battery-backed parking mode, and the 16GB of bundled storage is a perk worth getting. The only weakness is the lack of a GPS option,

Pros

High-resolution video up to 2560 x 1080

Stylish good looks

16GB SDHC card included (at $90)

Cons

The Blackvue DR750S-2CH offers excellent day and night video from both the front and rear cameras. The configuration and viewing app is top-notch, as is the GPS-savvy viewer for the PC. While it lacks extras like driver aids, it's otherwise one of the best dash cams we've reviewed, though unfortunately also one of the most expensive.

Cons

The Papago GoSafe S810 dual channel setup has 1080p front and 720p rear camera that take good day and night video. It's easy to use and set up. The only issue is that the supercapacitor won't run the camera long enough to capture any video, should the 12-volt fail. Good stuff aside from the one flaw.

Pros

Excellent day, night, and low-light video

Easy to install and use

Lots of bad-driver tech (safety warnings)

Cons

The c550's video captures are surprisingly good--both day and night. But the rear camera is primitive in quality and design, and the $13 GPS add-on doesn't watermark the video. Also, only the latest versions will record after 12-volt power is removed and then for only 10 seconds. Still, the price is tempting, and if you think of the unit as a single camera, it's competitive.

Two years on from the 895HD, the Drive HD DASH 2316D offers only minor improvements, and none concern the video, which is weak by today's ever-rising standards. The iRadar app is useful, but GPS is only an option. To our mind, the cheaper 895HD (if you can find it) is still the better deal.

Pros

Inexpensive for a dual-camera system

Easy to use

Meshes with and plays Cobra iRadar app alerts

Cons

If you're more interested in keeping track of what's going on inside your vehicle than what's behind, the DrivePro 520, with its integrated interior camera, could be just what the doctor ordered. Uber and Lyft drivers take notice.

Pros

Cons

This is a nicely designed dash cam with a clever magnetic mount and a very nice feature set. Garmin also knows dash cams—every setting and tweak required is in place, including integrated GPS. However, night video isn't up to current standards, and bumps aren't stabilized in video very well. There are significantly cheaper cameras with better video. Opt for the nearly identical, albeit pricier, Garmin Dash Cam 55, which offers significantly better captures.

Pros

Compact design and Wi-Fi connectivity

Good day video, given a smooth ride

Red light and bad driver alerts

Cons

The Viofo A119 is a real bargain, with surprisingly good video for the price, and a boatload of features. GPS is just a $10 add-on. The trade-offs: no SDHC card included, and the device is not removable.

Pros

Cons

The Aukey's DR01 product features great video captures, day and night. It also supports GPS via a $20 external module, though said module often took minutes to initialize and start watermarking the video. But the camera stops recording the second it loses power, a potential problem in accidents where 12-volt power is cut off.